"Merchant, what exactly is your purpose for kindly saving our lives?"
Upon seeing so many weapons and ammunition,
Leon and Luis, who had encountered the Merchant before, couldn't help but ask, even though the Merchant was also infected with the Plaga parasite. However, his purposeful arrangement of this ambush position here seemed a bit too obvious, didn't it?
However, the Merchant, seeing this situation, was not in a hurry at all. Instead, he still smiled and explained:
"Hehehe…"
"I've already stated my purpose. When you go to the Island, I need you to take me with you to remove the Plaga parasite from my body,"
"I can feel that some of you have also been injected with Plaga parasite eggs, so we are all in the same boat. Isn't it better to help each other?"
"Of course, if you don't want to believe this reason, then just treat me as a Merchant. These weapons are for sale to you. You can use them if you pay enough. If this can make you lower your guard…"
Spreading his palms, the Merchant pointed to his bloodshot eyes and answered faintly. His bloodshot, crimson eyes were always a sign of Plaga parasite infection.
The only reason he helped Leon and the others was simply to have more people help him, as he himself wasn't confident he could infiltrate the Island Institute.
Of course, if Leon and Javier didn't believe him, then they could just buy weapons with money. After all, he was an infected person, but also a true Merchant.
"Awooooo—!!!"
At this moment, hearing the Merchant's words, the White Wolf, almost forgotten, immediately darted out from Javier's feet. Its sharp howl instantly broke the strange atmosphere. It quickly walked to the Merchant, carrying its remaining money bag, and at the same time, the White Wolf looked back at Javier, its meaning self-evident.
"Since you're selling weapons,"
"then I think this money should be enough."
After pondering for a while, Javier wasn't sure of the Merchant's true intentions, but he still took the money bag from the White Wolf's back and threw all the gold coins he had previously scavenged into the Merchant's hand.
Opening it, he saw it was full of shining ancient gold coins, a considerable amount, all cast from gold and silver, much more valuable than ordinary US dollar or Euro paper money. Seeing this money, the Merchant's face twisted into a strange smile again.
The main reason he came to Wolf's Valley to be an mercenary for Sadler, the cult leader, and now played the role of a Merchant, was because he particularly loved money. Although he could be possessed and killed by the Plaga parasite in his body at any time, this did not affect his love for money—
Chapter 33: The Birth of Wisdom
After resolving the communication issue with the Merchant…
Javier ran outside the two-story wooden house with four green M18A1 Claymore Mines and began to set them up. The mines were as heavy as two bricks, with two tripods at the bottom and a slightly curved angle. They were also engraved with a few English letters: "Front Toward Enemy…"
A fool-proof design—
Even with instructions, some idiots can still get it wrong.
The M18A1 Claymore Mine, also known as the Claymore anti-personnel mine, contains 700 steel balls and 1.5 pounds of C-4 plastic explosive.
The M18A1's explosive killing range includes 50 meters forward, spreading in a 60-degree wide fan shape; the height is 2 to 2.4 meters. The maximum range of its steel balls can even reach 250 meters, including a moderate killing range of about 100 meters.
The M18A1 has 3 detonation methods to choose from: control mode (command detonation), no-control mode (victim activated mode), and delayed mode.
That is, cable remote control, or tripwire. Its lethality is terrifying; 700 steel balls can instantly tear the target in front into fragments and penetrate it.
Considering the stupidity of the Plaga Parasite Villagers, Javier chose the tripwire mode. Several steel wires were cleverly wrapped in the directions and angles most likely to be walked into by the Plaga Parasite Villagers.
Four M18A1 Claymore Mines were enough to form a defensive line, which could alleviate the impact pressure of the Plaga Parasite Villagers' riot when necessary.
"…"
"You anticipated all of this?"
While Javier was busy setting up the mine tripwires, Ada also came over to help. As a top agent, she was exceptionally skilled at setting up mines.
Leon did not come down to help, but was racking his brain inside the house on how to place Ashley, the President's daughter. Taking this opportunity, Ada looked at Javier suspiciously and asked faintly,
If it was before, with just the few of them,
Ada indeed believed that no matter what, they could not completely block the hundreds of Plaga Parasite Villagers.
But now… things had taken a turn. The house was filled with various weapons and ammunition, even three Light Machine Guns, and the mines being set up outside, gave Ada hope.
So her original cold temper softened a bit.
However, despite that, Ada still couldn't believe how Javier had the confidence to block the Plaga Parasite Villagers' encirclement. So she guessed that the Merchant's position here was very likely something Javier had anticipated in advance.
Or rather… Javier had already been in contact with the Merchant. Considering that they might be pursued by the Plaga Parasite Villagers later, Javier had preemptively arranged for the Merchant to help set up a defensive line, and Javier took her to the sacrificial cave and the Quarry to raise funds first?
To pay the Merchant's reward?
After all, he helped set up a defensive line, didn't he—?!
All sorts of guesses seemed reasonable,
but Ada had actually entered a certain Dihua mode of thinking, because Javier really hadn't thought so far ahead. He wasn't an old fox; he was just a simple hothead.
This was all a coincidence, and he hadn't contacted the Merchant in advance, nor had he paid a large sum of money to ask him to help set up a defensive line.
Because it really was just a coincidence.
Javier had no idea the Merchant would be here.
He himself had a mobile arsenal; he just wanted to use a few rockets to blow up the village chief Mendez, repel the Plaga Parasite Villagers, and then quickly escape with the others.
Who knew the Merchant would suddenly appear here and set up a tight defensive line for them in advance? For this, Javier could only say… this must be a game bug!
"No…"
"It's just a coincidence. I didn't expect that Merchant to appear here, but no matter what, it's all because we're not meant to die, isn't it?"
After setting up the Claymore Mines, Javier clapped the dust from his hands and slowly stood up. He didn't explain the cause and effect of everything, but rather perfunctorily answered Ada's question, while looking into the distance.
Javier and Ada seemed to be able to see faint glows of burning torches emerging in the distance of the dark night, like flickering stars, gradually rushing towards them.
The ground trembled slightly, as if a charging iron cavalry was wantonly galloping and trampling the earth, or a surging beast tide was about to arrive.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… Drip, drip, drip…"
"Rustle, rustle, rustle… Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter…"
At this very moment,
the dark night suddenly flashed with terrifying thunder and lightning. Deafening roars sounded, and a fleeting white light instantly illuminated the earth.
A fierce wind howled from the north, and a storm was about to descend. Javier and Ada's cheeks were stinging from the biting cold wind, and the swirling dust and fallen leaves made it impossible to open their eyes.
Not long after,
chilly raindrops slowly began to fall from the sky, making a pitter-patter sound, like hail. Soon… the rain grew heavier and heavier,
gradually soaking Javier and Ada's clothes. The storm Hunnigan had mentioned to Leon via the satellite communicator had finally arrived. Of course… it wasn't just the storm!
"…"
"A storm is brewing—!"
Seeing this, Javier sighed and quickly hid with Ada in the dilapidated two-story wooden house, re-locking the main door. Then they rummaged through everything to block every possible opening,
leaving only three windows through which they could attack the outside. According to the previous plan, Javier and Ada intended to guard the first floor together, while Leon and Luis would guard the second floor.
"Where's the Merchant?"
As soon as they entered the house,
Javier noticed that one person was missing. The Merchant, dressed in a tattered black coat, had disappeared. He asked Luis and Leon with a puzzled expression.
To this, Luis gave an awkward smile:
"He was scared and climbed out the window to escape. That guy… in a way, he's even more timid than me. He also left us a message,"
"He said he wasn't deserting, but rather evaluating his investment project, saying that if we couldn't even get past this hurdle, then infiltrating the Island Institute wouldn't be of much use."
"Tsk… If you're afraid of death, just say so. Why make it sound so high and mighty!"
Holding his Mauser C96 pistol, Luis tilted his head and explained with a smile. Finally, there was someone in the team who was even more useless than him, which made Luis feel quite pleased, because this way, everyone would forget the embarrassing things he had done earlier!
Wait?
What about the weakest, Ada and Ashley—?
Don't joke around. Goodness, Don Quixote's knightly code told Luis that true knights wouldn't compare themselves to ladies. As a knight, he wouldn't be so shameless as to compare who was more useless with a little girl.
Comparing a freshly graduated college girl to himself, an adult man, Luis believed that such behavior itself was already useless.
And hearing Luis's answer,
Javier shook his head helplessly.
It seemed they had misunderstood the Merchant's character. He was not someone who valued loyalty and righteousness. Forget about sharing hardships.
That's right… the Merchant prioritized self-interest. It was already good enough that he helped set up a defensive line. Why would he stay to die together? Without profit, it was usually an unprofitable endeavor.
However, this incident also served as a reminder to Javier and the others: the Merchant himself was not benevolent. They only had common interests and goals; they should never confuse the two.
"…"
"What about Ashley?"
After asking about the Merchant, Javier then asked about Ashley, who had also disappeared. This time, Leon answered. Leon smiled calmly and pointed his thumb at the cabinet on the second floor,
indicating that Ashley was hiding inside. Given the stupidity of those Plaga Parasite Villagers, it would be very difficult to find Ashley hiding inside unless they searched every single cabinet.
After all,
the Plaga parasite didn't enhance the villagers' sense of smell; they could only catch Ashley by constantly searching. And the cabinet's defense was enough to protect Ashley.
"In that case…"
"Where did he hide? (¿dónde se escondió?)"
"Catch him (¡Agárralo!)!"
"…"
Thinking of this, Javier was about to say something, but was quickly interrupted by the noisy sounds from afar.
While they were talking, hundreds of Plaga Parasite Villagers had already located the dilapidated wooden house where Javier and the others were hiding. They were holding torches and continuously approaching it. The distance between them was less than a hundred meters.
"Speak of the devil…"
"Hurry, get into defensive positions. Use the Light Machine Guns to suppress them directly; no need to wait for them to get close. I've set up mines downstairs to slow them down, not to wait for them to explode before shooting. That would be too late."
Seeing this,
Javier's expression changed, and he quickly said to Leon and Luis. Luis and Leon, however, had expressions that showed they already knew without being told.
They picked up the DP Light Machine Guns set up by the windows and began to fire in bursts, directly killing the Plaga Parasite Villagers attempting to approach from a distance.
At the same time, the intense gunfire mixed with the storm sounded exceptionally clear, as if telling the Plaga Parasite Villagers: "I'm right here, come and get me!" with the same effect.
Javier and Ada also quickly ran downstairs to prepare for the ambush. Compared to the second floor, the defense of the first floor was the most crucial.
And closely following Javier's feet was the White Wolf they had adopted earlier. At this moment, it was howling at its surroundings. Although it was not very useful now, it still wanted to share some of the pressure.